Mail-bag delivering and receiving apparatus.



' No. 896,141. 7 V PATENTED AUG. 18, 1908'.

w. A.- MQLAUGHLIN.

MAIL BAG DELIVERING AND RECEIVING APPARATUS.

PPLIOATION rum) JUNE 8190 A 8 2 sums-8115M 1.

I W t Muses N .89 1 1. 'PAT'ENTED AUG. 18 1908. 4 W. A. MoLAUGHLIN. I

A MAIL BAG DELIVERING AND RECEIVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 8, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

nuanlfoz wuwuo'eo I Q 6 6. fiuk. b5 jg W M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. MGLAUGHLIN, OF SIMS, ILLINOIS.

MAIL-BAG DELIVERING- AND RECEIVING APPARATUS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. MoLAUGII- LIN, citizen of the United States, residing at Sims, in the county of Wayne and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Delivering and Receiving Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved mail bag delivering and receiving apparatus by means of which mail bags may be automatically delivered from and received upon rapidly moving trains.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of this character which is entirely automatic in its operation, simple, chea and substantial in construction and not lia le to get out of order.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists of certain constructions, combinations and arrangements of parts the preferred form of which will be first described in connection with the accompanying drawings and then the invention particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings wherein the same part is designated by the same reference numeral wherever it occurs, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a mail oar provided with my invention and a portion of what I term the mail house; Fig. 2 1s a longitudinal section taken on line 2, 2 of Fig. 3 looking down Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3, 3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow, and Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the means for supporting the receptacle in the car.

1 designates the mail car provided with an o ening 2 in the side thereof in which is slidahly mounted the receptacle 3, shown in the formv of a substantially rectangular box hav ing an open front and a back 4 hinged at 5 to the receptacle, so that access can be obtained to the interior of the receptacle from within the car.

6 is an arc shaped plate supported on the floor of the receptacle with its ends extending to the open front thereof. This plate 6 with the bottom forms a pocket into which the mail bag to be delivered is placed.

7 is a sweep or plate centrally pivoted at 8 in the open front of the receptacle, the pivot extending from a cross strip 9 extending across the front of the receptacle to the bottom of the receptacle. As clearly shown, the end of the sweep lies close to the arc Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 8, 1908.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

Serial No. 437,340.

shaped plate 6, consequently when the sweep is operated by its outer end coming into contact with an abutment it will force a bag lying in front of the sweep out of the pocket. Above the cross piece 9 the receptacle is open, as shown at 10, in order to receive the bag which is delivered to the train simultaneously with the delivery of the bag from the pocket. At each end of this open ing 10 I provide pivotedrollers 11 which are adapted to operate the device for delivering the mail to the train.

12 is a plate secured to the side of the car and projecting out over the receptacle in order to prevent rain beating in between the side of the opening in the car and the receptacle. Preferably and as shown I provide a pair of ears 13 on the inner lower edge of the receptacle, in which is pivoted the free ends of a U-shaped bail 14, the lower portion of the bail being journaled in the ears 15 secured to the inner surface of the side of the car. This bail operates to support the inner edge of the receptacle when it is drawn into the car in its ino erative position. Of course it will be un erstood that any other supporting means may be provided for the receptacle if desired.

16 designates what I term the mail house provided with a receptacle 17 in its lower portion into which the door 18 opens. The mail house 16 is provided in its upper front portion with an opening 19 in line with the position of the b ade 7 on the car. This opening is adapted to receive the bag delivered from the car by the blade 7. Mounted above the opening 19 and in line with the opening 10 in the receptacle on the car I form a pocket 20 which is composed of the floor section 21 and the rear arc shaped portion 22, similar to the portion 6 in the receptacle, and in the front of this pocket I cen trally journal the sweep or blade 23 by means of the bolt 24 extending through the late 21 and into the upper portion of the mal house. As the pocket 20 is in line with the opening 10 in the rece tacle the rollers 11 are in position to stri e the projecting end of the,

blade 23 when the mail car moves past the house and the rollers 24 which are located at opposite ends of the opening 19 are in position to strike the projecting end of the blade orsweep 7, as is clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In the operation of my device the mail to be delivered to .the train is placed in the pocket 20 on the side of the blade 23 from which the train is to come, and the blade23 is set with its arm projecting outwardly at right angles to the pocket. The clerk on the mail car opens the door 4 in the receptacle and places the bag to be delivered from the car in front of the late 6 and also in front of the portion of the iilade 7 projecting into the pocket. He then pushes the receptacle out to the position shown in the drawings and need 'give the device no further attention. When the car'passes the mail house the projecting portion of the blade 7 strikes the roller 24 and at the same time the projecting portion of the blade 23 strikes the roller 11. The blades are thus operated to sweep the mail out of each of the pockets and the mail from the mail house is delivered through the o ening 10 into the receptacle on the car, and t 1e mail from the car is delivered through the opening 19 and into the mail house. The mail from the mail house can then be removed by opening the door 18 and the mail in the receptacle on the car can be removed through the door 4. The clerk-on the car can now draw in the receptacle to its inward position where it is out of the way, or can place another mail bag in position to be delivered at the next station. In order to hold the recepta'cle 3 in its outer position I have shown a turn button 25 pivoted on the'inner surface of the side of the car and in position to be turned up behind the back of the receptacle.

I realize that considerable variation is pos sible in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without de arting from,

the spirit of my invention, and therefore do not intend to limit myself to the specific form shown and described.

I claim:

1. In a mail bag delivering apparatus, the

combination with a car, of a'bag containingone portion thereof project into the pocket behind the bag and the other portion beyond a ceptacle movably mounted in the side of the car and adapted when in its operative position to project beyond the side of the car to support a bag therein, a sweep pivoted in the front portion of the receptacle and adapted to sweep the bag out of the receptacle as it is turned on its pivot.

4. In a mail bag delivering apparatus, the combination with a receptacle having a floor portion adapted to support the mail bag to be delivered, an are shaped rear portion and open at its front, of a sweep pivoted in the front of the receptacle and adapted to sweep the bag out of the receptacle as it is turned on its pivot, said sweep having a portion projecting beyond the receptacle, and means pothe sweep to operate the same.

5. In a mail bag delivering and receiving mechanism, the combination with a car, of a receptacle mounted in the side of the car, a pocket formed in the side of the receptacle outside the car adapted to contain the bag to be delivered, a sweep pivoted in the front portion of the pocket and adapted when in operative position to have one portion there- WILLIAM A. MoLAUGHLIN.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS M. PHELPS, E. L. WHITE.

.sitioned to strike the projecting portion of 

